For people with HIV (PWH), hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is not associated with an increased risk for type 1 myocardial infarction (T1MI), but the risk with increasing age is magnified for those with versus without HCV, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Keri N. Althoff, PhD, MPH, and
colleagues examined PWH aged 40-79 to examine whether HCV coinfection increased T1MI risk. Overall, 20% of 23,361 PWH had HCV. The researchers identified 89 T1MIs among PWH with HCV and 314 among PWH without HCV (1.9% and 1.7%, respectively). In PWH, HCV was not associated with a significantly increased risk for T1MI (adjusted HR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.74- 1.30). The risk for T1MI rose with age and was higher for those with versus without HCV (adjusted HR [95% CI] per 10-year increase in age, 1.85 [1.38-2.48] vs 1.30 [1.13-1.50]). “Clinicians
should be aware that age may be a more significant risk factor for T1MI among PWH with HCV, prompting assessment and mitigation of additional cardiovascular disease risk factors and promoting HCV treatment,” Dr. Althoff and colleagues wrote.